Entries tagged with: HR

You can browse our full NYC show calendar for all of tonight's shows, but here are some highlights...

Angel Olsen @ Roulette
Angel Olsen's varied 2014 album goes from somber folk to upbeat indie rock and it's rightfully been appearing on a bunch of year-end lists already. Tonight she plays the first of her three NYC shows on this tour.

Brooklyn Rock Lottery @ Baby's All Right
A bunch of musicians from notable bands will be divvied up into "groups" today, then they'll spend the day writing and rehearsing original songs which they'll then perform at this show with proceeds going to the Harmony Program. Musicians include members of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Parquet Courts, Obits, Beverly, TEEN, Au Revoir Simone, Dismemberment Plan, and more. Sold out.

Philip Glass (The Etudes) @ BAM
Philip Glass' 20-years-in-the-making project is performed in full tonight with help from nine other pianists, including Nico Muhly and Timo Andres.

BADBADNOTGOOD, Jerry Paper @ Bowery Ballroom
Jazz/hip hop trio BadBadNotGood caught ears early on thanks to associations with Odd Future, but they've since grown into a group who are notable on their own. Opening tonight's show is Jerry Paper who is on Dustin from Beach Fossils' new label. Sold out.

tUnE-YaRds, Cibo Matto, Beep! @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
tUnE-yArDs dove further into their world of quirky, eccentric pop on this year's Nikki Nack, and Cibo Matto returned with their first album since 1999 which had them still in good form. Tonight's night 3 of their 4-night run at MHOW.

Truthers, Scully, Milk Dick, Rips @ Union Pool
What we've got here is a great lineup of scuzzy, fuzzy garage rock n' roll (and one that seems like it could've been at DbA). Scully features ex members of Splinters, and Milk Dick have a new release out on JEFF the Brotherhood's Infinity Cat label.

Chuck Ragan, Adam Faucett @ Rough Trade
Hot Water Music are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, but co-frontman Chuck Ragan is staying extra busy focusing on his rootsy folk solo project as well. Tonight's show is sold out.

Bongripper, Hasj, Hound, Water Torture @ Saint Vitus
Though they almost did in 2011, Chicago stoner metal greats Bongripper have actually never played NYC, but that will finally change tonight. Not too surprisingly, it's sold out. Also of note is Hound, who feature members of Ted Leo's band The Pharmacists and None More Black.

Lucius, Bahamas, Elaphant @ Terminal 5
Brooklyn's Lucius, featuring lookalike singers Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, have spent much of 2014 on the festival circut, still riding high on 2013's,Wildewoman.

Ampere, Slingshot Dakota, Petal, Clean Girls @ Suburbia
Pennsylvania DIY pop bands Slingshot Dakota are on tour together which hits NYC tonight for this show. Headlining though, is ex-Orchid hardcore ragers Ampere, which makes for a very diverse (and awesome) night. And it's actually your second chance to catch Ampere today. They play a matinee with Capacities at ABC No Rio this afternoon.

New York punks Marathon, whose lineup included two members that went on to form to Polar Bear Club (but both recently left that band), broke up back in 2006 after the release of their only full length (self-titled). However, after reissuing that album in 2013, the band have now announced two reunion shows in their home state. They happen in Brooklyn on February 28 and Rochester on March 1 (venues TBA) with No Trigger (who also recently became active again) and Fire When Ready (whose only album came out in 2005 and who also don't appear to have played live in a while). The shows also include No Way, Soul Control and Benny Beyond. Flyer and song streams below.

UPDATE: The Brooklyn date happens at Saint Vitus with Marathon, No Trigger, Fire When Ready, and No Way. Tickets go on sale Friday (1/24) at noon.

A much older New York punk band, No Redeeming Social Value, will celebrate their 25th anniversary with a show at Brooklyn's Grand Victory on March 29 with Yuppicide, Two Man Advantage, Last Call Brawl and DJ Spag. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Meanwhile, The Dictators NYC (Dick Manitoba's current version of The Dictators) will celebrate sixty years of Handsome Dick Manitoba on Thursday (1/23) at Bowery Electric with Threats and The Bullys. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Also at Bowery Electric is NYHC band Reagan Youth on Sunday (1/26) with The Memphis Morticians, Twin Guns, Emergency Break and Dust Angel. Tickets are on sale.

And one more Bowery Electric show is the one February 16, which is the NYC stop of Richie Ramone's (who drummed in the Ramones from '83-'87) 'Something In My Drink' tour. Also on the bill is The Waldos, Threads and The Weapons. Tickets for that show are on sale now. All dates on the tour are listed below.

In other NYC punk news, there's a benefit for the Transcore stage of Punk Island (which Aye Nako have played) at Grand Victory on Tuesday (1/21) with Little Waist, Penguin, Dirty Circle and The Whores (not to be confused with Whores). Tickets are on sale now and "100% of net proceeds will go to cover the costs of the Brooklyn Transcore Stage at the 2014 Punk Island Festival. "

Though this particular project is reggae, H.R. of punk legends Bad Brains will bring his band Dubb Agents to NYC for a show on February 21 at The Studio at Webster Hall with Rebelmatic, Radio Daze and Get Involved (mems Thursday/Judge/Glassjaw).

Another punk show goes down with I Am the Avalanche, The Swellers, Turnover and Bellwether on March 28 at Marlin Room at Webster Hall. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

A week later at the Acheron (2/21) is the previously discussed Iron Chic / Chumped show. Since we last spoke, Earworms dropped off that show and were replaced by Timeshares. Iron Chic also recently announced all dates for their their tour, which you can check out here. Tickets for the Acheron show are still available.

Finding Joseph I is a feature-length documentary currently in production that will detail the life of the legendary Bad Brains frontman and solo artist HR. The film features interviews with Questlove, Vernon Reid, Yasiin Bey (Mos Def), Chino Moreno (Deftones), Norwood Fisher (Fishbone), Ian MacKaye and even an interview with the enigmatic madman himself. Check out a trailer below and give to a Kickstarter if you so desire.

The film also features music from a new HR undertaking, Project Lividity. Check out a snippet from one new track, "Thank You," below.

Like many other East Village and Lower East Side venues , The Bowery Electric is closed for the next few days due to Hurricane Sandy aftermath. The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black show that was initially moved from Tuesday (10/30) to Thursday (11/1) has now been cancelled altogether, and tonight's (10/31) Halloween show has been postponed to a date TBD before Thanksgiving. What was supposed to be the last ESG show in NYC was scheduled to go down this Thursday (11/1) at the venue with Sinkane, but that show has been postponed TBD in December/January. All tickets for rescheduled shows will be honored. Refunds are available from ticketweb if you purchased your tickets through them, and at The Bowery Electric if you purchased your tickets there.

In terms of shows that will happen at the Bowery Electric, New York Dolls frontman David Johansen is playing there this Saturday (11/3), performing "a career spanning set of songs form his incredible 50 year career" with support from Romans and Kay Kasperhausen. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

While Bonnaroo's roots come from the jamband scene, the festival's outlook has grown each year. The Red Hot Chili Peppers set provided a nod from the festival's past without losing the band's foothold in the present day. In various combinations, members Flea, Chad Smith and Josh Klinghoffer along with touring percussionist Mauro Refosco improvised their way before returning to the next number on the setlist... Earlier in the day, HR of Bad Brains looked and acted nowhere near the part of a hardcore hero. His bandmates kept the music's mix of powerful, fast numbers with an occasional reggae cooldown. The latter style was necessary after a dust cloud erupted from the crowd moshing and bodysurfing. A pleased Flea of the Chili Peppers watched from the side of the stage. -[Jambands]

Bonnaroo 2012's third day (on June 9th) featured a trio of headline performances including Alice Cooper, Spectrum Road (which featured John Medeski, Jack Bruce, Vernon Reid and Cindy Blackman Santana), and a "Superjam" put on by Questlove of The Roots that featured Mr. Brown Sugar himself, D'Angelo, in his first US appearance in over ten years. The "Superjam" also featured appearances from members of The Time and Parliament-Funkadelic, who covered somgs by Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Hendrix and more across the 90 minute set. Setlist and video from that set is below.

H.R. of Bad Brains plays night two, Monday, of that Manhattan benefit, but first he'll headline a Brooklyn show of his own at Public Assembly tonight (4/29) with support from Paranoid Social Club, The WonderMics, Groundswell, Matt Pless, and Jay Samel. Tickets are on sale.

The show is one of a few notable events at Public Assembly in the coming months. Xeno & Oaklander will headline Public Assembly on May 11th with David J (Bauhaus), Frank (Just Frank), and DJ sets by CREEP and Todd Pendu. Tickets are still available. Xeno & Oaklander are currently touring in the Midwest.

Also going down in the near future at Public Assembly, Idiot Glee (who we profiled last year) will play with Nick Diamonds (of islands), Celestial Shore, and DJ Udbhav on May 11th. $8 gets you in. Idiot Glee recently posted a new video for "That's All For Everyone" which is viewable below. The track comes from the band's Don't Go Out Tonight 7" and is a cover of Fleetwood Mac. Pick up a copy.

Public Assembly will host The X-Ecutioners, Da Beatminerz and "special guests TBA" alongside resident DJs Total Eclipse and Gen.Erik on May 3rd. Details, including cost, are forthcoming but prepare for a night of jaw-dropping turntablism.

"While Bad Brains sound has shifted from hardcore and punk to dub and reggae, they still mix it up for the audience coming to see them. Opening with a pounding set of their signature aggressive sound, the music of guitarist Dr. Know and bassist Darrel Jennifer along with drummer Earl Hudson was tight and very intact. Yet, one of the more interesting experience's to everyone was watching singer H.R., dressed in a valor jump suit with a dress shirt and tie underneath and knit hat, H.R., who has battled drug addiction and years of abuse to his body doing this profession simply looked burnt out. Slurring many of his words and mumbling in between songs, at points Jennifer would look at him and laugh, yet while his annunciation skills were not as top as the band's sound, it was still an overall experience watching him perform."
-[Officially a Yuppie]

Bad Brains played the second of their two night stay in NYC at Music Hall of Williamsburg with GZA on 4/18, just one night after the band played Irving Plaza with H2O. The NYC shows were part of a short run of dates for the band who also played Philly with GZA and who will be at Bonnaroo this year. Pictures from the Brooklyn show adorn this post.

Meanwhile, HR will be presen at a Benefit for Lucinda's Children, a two-night show to help out Lucinda Gallagher in the wake of her passing late last year.

Last December our close community of friends, musicians, and music lovers lost one of its own when Lucinda Gallagher took her own life, leaving behind two amazing children. These young teenagers, now in the care of Lucinda's dear friend, both have their mother's rock and roll spirit. Like her, they are bright and soulful and have a deep appreciation for music as gifted budding musicians.

In order to raise funds for these children a two-night concert spectacular will be held at The Bowery Electric on April 29th and 30th... [and] in addition to the live show, an auction and raffle will be held which will include items donated by Mary Louise Parker, Fender, Bob Gruen, Danny Clinch, The Morrison Hotel Gallery & many more. 100% of the proceeds from the auction and concerts will be placed in a trust for Lucinda's kids.

"Bad Brains begin working on NEW ALBUM!
we're pleased to announce that we have recently been holed up in upstate NY working on new material for a 2011 release.
"Stand by for the 'realist' we have ever written," says Darryl.
The album is said to be channeling progressive elements and Megaforce expects us to release the album in late-summer 2011."

Bad Brains are playing the Vans SXSW showcase at Emo's tonight (3/16) with The Black Lips, OFF! and Trash Talk who are also playing the BrooklynVegan day party in the same venue earlier the same day (today).

HR is playing a solo show at Brooklyn Bowl on May 1st with Trouble Andrew. Tickets go on sale today at noon. All tour dates below...

"...At this point, Bad Brains were playing, and it was clear more trouble was in store, when some guy in some sort of medeival doungeon master getup tried to crowd surf during "Attitude," which inspired the security to storm the stage twelve or so deep, evacuate the Bad Brains, and stand like some sort of musclehead Stonehenge along the end of the stage, while their leader informed everyone, "This is not a concert, this is a party. Have a seat." Of course, the floor was covered in horrible grime and broken glass, but whatever.

Poor Bad Brains. Or is it? With all due respect to these legends of hardcore and reformed homophobes, I don't know if I can ever recall a more phoned-in performance in all my life. This should come as no surprise, based on the ubiquity of weed stench emenating from their dressing room, and the equally ever-present site of all-time-greatest-hardcore-singer front-runner HR sitting motionless on a couch (seriously - this hardcore legend did not move an inch during the whole evening!). I mean, whatever floats yr boat, HR, more power to you, but for this Greatest Hardcore Band Ever to get onstage and have their singer remain motionless in body and completely monotone in voice... I dunno, it is just not how I imagined it might be. Disappointing at best.

Well, this whole scene was fucked, clearly, and my ladyfriend was getting more and more disturbed by the assholery on display (or sexual harassment, as she would call it, and perhaps rightly so) and the constant picture-taking by stangers, that she had to go home and try and live like a reasonable person. I wish I could have followed her, but as will become a theme throughout this sad tale, I really needed the money. So, I escorted her out of the building and out of the hellish nightmare that was this party, and I was glad to see her moving towards a more peaceful and decent evening..." [Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus]

That is one small passage from a very long rant that Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus posted to his blog after an unpleasant experience at the Vice Halloween party on Saturday night. He goes on to talk about being kicked out of the show before getting to play, the Vice staff barely being able to get him back in, and him calling the cops!!! ("I made my second-ever call to 911"). Most of all he seems mad at the hired security company and encourages Vice to sue them.

He makes the whole night sound really horrible though - like really bad, which wasn't actually my own experience. I thought it was fun, though I wasn't kicked out. Security had a major presence, but what do you expect when you invite thousands of people to come drink for free in a giant warehouse in the middle of Williamsburg? My only discomfort was the bathroom lines. I almost peed my pants waiting for one of the porta potties!

Titus Andronicus performed as Weezer (a band that also played a Halloween show in NYC that night). They went on after Bad Brains (who played after Jesus Lizard) which was kind of weird because not that many people stuck around after the two headliners finished. Yes, HR of Bad Brains is a weirdo now and Bad Brains live are just kind of weird, but that's old news. Thanks to an enthusiastic crowd, the Bad Brains show was actually one of the craziest I can remember (security being weirdos for a minute aside). Read Patrick's whole rant HERE. More pictures from the show HERE. Watch some videos of the Bad Brains show, below...

CIV [has stayed]... great friends and since we own our masters, we've been kinda stupid in that we haven't made it available. Since we broke up in 1999, our music has been out in any kind of organized way... digitally or anything. So I think we might put together a discography and just package it up really nice... we've got tons of content and photos... b-sides and videos. I think when that comes out, we will probably have an opportunity to do some shows, nothing on the level of a full tour or anything, but it could be fun. -[Sammy Siegler, Oct 2008]

Now comes word that CIV will release Solid Bond: The Complete Discography on May 19, 2009 via Equal Vision Records. According to Spinner, the 43 song 2CD comp will get "the box treatment". As hinted above, and again in the Spinner piece, CIV may do some shows to accompany the release. We'll keep you posted.

"This inauguration day, join (Le) Poisson Rouge in celebrating the historic inauguration of our 44th President with live sets that turn hip hop on its head with guitar-driven feedback, make the most of heavy metal soul, and see one of DC's own legendary punk rockers take the stage. The concert celebrating this historic event will feature live performances by Apollo Heights, 24-7 Spyz andHR (of Bad Brains)."

Three or four decades of stops and starts -- mostly stops -- in this legendarily faded and ill-starred stretch of the Jersey Shore and finally, finally, things seem to reach a critical mass. Revived music halls of all shapes and sizes. Cool bars, a Mexican taqueria, a surfer shop, glass blowers and a potter on the Boardwalk. The renovated Convention Hall and Paramount Theater with its "Greetings From Asbury Park" sign out front. And the famous Thursday evening "doggy yappy hour" for pets at the Wonder Bar...

...Lance Larson, a veteran musician who helps run the Wonder Bar, figures that Asbury Park has a heritage of music, art and eccentricity that will attract people, tough times or no.

"We have one thing that no one else does, and that's entertainment," he said, picking at a cheeseburger on Thursday afternoon. "It's not just because of Bruce [Springsteen]. It's always been that way. I've toured every place, and there's no place like playing here. It's like Parris Island, the boot camp of music. If you can play here, you can play anywhere." [NY Times]

"It feels really great, it's exciting," said manager Debbie DeLisa of Deal. "There's a lot going on down here right now, with (concert promoter) Live Nation coming in to do the shows at Convention Hall. They're going to do some shows here also."

DeLisa's upbeat, optimistic tone is a far cry from last year, when the Ocean Avenue club was set to close to make way for a redevelopment project by developers Asbury Partners, which had purchased the property.

"Asbury Partners were going to tear it down, and I'm not sure what they were going to do, build condos," DeLisa said.

The venue was spared when developers Madison Marquette came into town and took over some of Asbury Partners' holdings, including the Wonder Bar.

DeLisa said the club is now waiting for approval from the city to construct a large outdoor deck facing the nearby Stone Pony; other plans include building a Tiki bar and adding a volleyball court to the facilities. [Metromix]

Live Nation has started booking the shows there, and I suppose that's why so many familiar names are suddenly playing in Asbury Park. Wonder Bar recently had Mates of State and Little Joy (see above). Upcoming shows include HR from Bad Brains (tonight), Rasputina, We are Scientists, and The Duke Spirit. Tickets can be found at Ticketmaster.

Every other band at Fun Fun Fun Fest over the weekend made it a point to give the fest's co-headliner Bad Brains a shout-out - a respect kind of thing. It makes sense. That's kind of what you do when you're sharing a bill with a band that helped paved the way for your own sound. That said, it was also really refreshing to hear one band take a slightly different approach. Leftover Crack's Stza also gave Bad Brains, or more specifically HR, lots of shout-outs. They were even positive shout-outs, but they were to call out HR's questionable politics/alleged-still homophobia. They were positive because they started with a speech about equality for all people, and were said in a way as to educate HR (if he was listening), AND Stza even announced his cell phone number in case HR wanted to give him a call. You can hear that last part in the first video below.

So, as pointed out, NYC's anarchist ska punk band Leftover Crack (who I had no idea were so popular because I honestly don't follow punk music that much) love everyone, EXCEPT, notoriously,...

...Oddly, the visit from detectives came just after cops arrested Leftover Crack lead singer Scott Sturgeon [also known as Stza Crack] on Friday for--no kidding--throwing donuts at the police during a demonstration outside the 9th Precinct in the East Village. Sturgeon says he was pissed off that the cops wouldn't let the band play their music at a reasonable volume.

In the complaint, Officer Richard Labore wrote that Sturgeon's antic "caused people to express alarm." Labore also wrote that Sturgeon was chanting "kill the police, kill the police."... [Village Voice, September 2008]

...police. The other video below is the band performing their hit "Fuck the Police" at the Austin festival. The show was a ton of fun. There's more pictures down there too...

If not obvious by the 2008 Fun Fun Fun Festcoverage so far, I was having the most fun (fun fun) over the weekend with all the punk, metal and hardcore on stages 3a and 3b (two connected stages to avoid long times between sets). Highlights and pictures from day one are HERE. Highlights of day two (9/9) were DOA, Frightened Rabbit, the ska punk, politics and crowd of Leftover Crack, Cro-Mags (jam) (John Joseph w/ one of Cro-Mags' past drummers, AJ from Leeway on guitar and Craig Setari of Sick of it All on bass), what I saw of St. Vincent and Black Angels, the vegan sausage pizza, and Bad Brains. I managed to catch a few songs of Islands who sounded great, but totally missed Spinto Band and Annuals. Also saw pieces of Kevin Seconds, Chuck Ragan, and Ben Nichols's solo-frontmen sets. Saw Black Joe Lewis and most of Trash Talk, but neither lived up to my expectations in the daytime festival setting. I went back and forth between the pre-headliner sets of Minus the Bear and Bouncing Souls, and ran over to watch one song of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah during a Bad Brains reggae segment. Despite the competition, CYHSY still pulled in a respectable sized crowd. The stages were far enough away in general, but I could also still hear Alec Ounsworth's unmistakable voice at times between Bad Brains songs depending on where I was standing (I watched Bad Brains from various areas throughout their set). Clipse were headlining on the stage farthest away from Bad Brains so I totally missed them, and Kool Keith, who played that same stage earlier. Bad Brains ended earlier than curfew which meant I got to run over and catch about 20 minutes of Tim and Eric which was a great way (laughing) to end the hectic two day fest.

One unfortunate aspect of the weekend was the dust. It was a problem at ACL this year too. Dry dirt and wind meant you were constantly breathing it in. A signifigant portion of the crowd was wearing bandanas or other gas mask-like things on their faces. I didn't, but I should have because I think it made me a little sick. More pictures from day two below...

I'm not sure how much the Bad Brains stuck to the setlist because I'm stupid like that, but HR, dressed in a blue robe-like outfit, did keep pulling a copy out of his pocket to see what was coming up next throughout their headlining Fun Fun Fun Fest set on Sunday night. They definitely closed the pre-encore set with "Pay To Cum" (or "Pay to Come" as they spelled it on the set list) though. After that HR grabbed his bags (literally) and left the stage as the crowd yelled for one more. You can see all of that happen in the video below...

My evening started halfway through the Trouble Andrew set, and the crowd was having none of it. The pro-snowboarder's (mostly) skatepunk was NOT a hit with the overwhelmingly straight-ahead hardcore (with a dash of reggae, natch) fan base.

Bad Brains finally blasted off after 10:30. Clad in a sportcoat with some sort of body-armor underneath, HR walked calmly to the mic with hands together (in praise of Jah?), and ripped into "Attitude" from the self-titled ROIR record. The floor shook. Over the next hour, the band ran through other selections from the self-titled record ("Sailin' On", "Pay To Cum"), I Against I ("Re-Ignition", "Sacred Love") and even Quickness (Daryl began "Soul Craft" with the album's "verbal" intro), with the audience becoming absolutely unglued. In between the hardcore mayhem (and ensuing mosh-pit antics), Bad Brains slowed it up with reggae such as "I & I Survive"... adding delay to the drums, vox, and guitar tracks for that extra dubby feel.

But it wasn't all chocolate waterfalls and rainbows: The mix for Bad Brains was extremely muddy from my vantage point, favoring Daryl Jenifer's tremendously booming basslines instead of balancing with Dr. Know's ripping fretwork. HR mumbled through lyrics and was off at times. Their set was only one hour long, including the encore, "I Against I".

But for every ounce of criticism that I could possibly lay, postive energy was returned tenfold from the electric crowd, and I just could not help but be swept up in it too.

So what did I learn? A few things:
1) It is possible to take a picture while crowdsurfing (see below) (Tim Griffin take note)
2) Old hardcore dudes still mosh.
3) Bad Brains have still got it.
4) Daryl Jenifer is the coolest motherfucker on the planet.

"OMG. I felt incredible atmosphere from whole stage all the way. H.R. looked like getting old and not shouted no act like ancient himself but perfect. i thought again Bad brains is still living legend. Finally I was smashed and remember a part of thing only."
[EYD blog]

Speaking of Bad Brains... former drummer Chuck Treece and his skatepunk band McRad (see Powell/Peralta videos from the 80s) have a few area shows this week, including tonight (10/27) at Europa (tickets here) and 10/29 in the Old Office at the Knitting Factory (tickets here).

"I just saw the Bad brains @ the house of Blues this past Tuesday. dude! the crowd was about 99.5 percent there for N.E.R.D. I was like one of the only people showing love to the band. HR was a mess. He had on a bath robe over a suit with a motor cycle helmet on. you couldn't even sing along with him, he was singing off tempo and way to low. It was bad. I was gonna show my son a legend, i ended up letting him see the 1982 DVD to make up for that crap." [CAT]

Bad Brains have three upcoming shows that I know about. The first is soon - September 2nd in Chicago. They're opening for N.E.R.D. at House of Blues. The "presented by Converse" show is on sale.

One of the other upcoming shows was just announced. That's November 9th at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin. I hoped Bad Brains would follow that up with a NYC show announcement, and they did. Tickets will go on presale (PASSWORD=fans) on Friday at 10am for a November 6th show at Irving Plaza.

But that's not all... HR is also doing his own show back on a Rocks Off Boat cruise around NYC. The date is September 8th and tickets are on sale. I can't imagine exactly what that will be like, but at the very least the boat offers good views of the waterfalls... All dates below...